June 22, 2022: Baltimore’s Austin Hays makes history with shortest-game cycle

One could argue that Austin Hays had the greatest one-game turnaround of his emerging career on June 22, 2022. The night before, batting cleanup for the Baltimore Orioles, he struck out four times in four at-bats as the Washington Nationals blanked the Orioles 3-0 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. 

Moved into the leadoff spot on June 22, Hays went 4-for-4, hitting for a history-making cycle, scoring three runs, driving in three, and quashing a Nationals scoring opportunity with an outfield assist, as Baltimore rolled to a rain-shortened shutout win. 

After two seasons playing mainly after roster expansion in September, followed by the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, Hays became an everyday outfielder for the Orioles in 2021. He started for Baltimore on Opening Day 2022 and by mid-June the 26-year-old Hays was making plays that, according to the Baltimore Sun, “vaulted him into the All-Star conversation.”1

Hays batted in eight different lineup spots in 2022. June 22 was only his sixth time in the leadoff position and just his second start of the season in center field. The 2022 Beltway Series consisted of four games between the Orioles and Nationals. The first two took place in Baltimore in June, followed by a pair of games in September in Washington.

After four Nationals pitchers handcuffed the Orioles on four hits on June 21, the second game in Baltimore matched Patrick Corbin, Washington’s veteran left-hander, against Tyler Wells, Baltimore’s hard-throwing young righty. Corbin had won 14 regular-season games and two postseason games – including Game Seven of the World Series – for Washington’s 2019 World Series championship team but had not posted a winning season since then, mirroring the Nationals’ decline in the standings. Through 12 decisions in 2022, Corbin had won only three times. Wells, in his second season in the majors, had split eight decisions. He had been moved into the starting rotation for the 2022 season, having spent his rookie year as a reliever. 

Both the Orioles (30-39) and the Nationals (25-46) were firmly entrenched in their respective leagues’ East Divisions, each 20½ games out of first place. Could this game be a turning point in the season? 

The Nationals threatened in the first inning. With one down, Juan Soto reached on an error by shortstop Jorge Mateo. Josh Bell followed by dropping a single into center, and Soto headed for third. Hays gathered up the ball and threw a one-hop strike to Tyler Nevin, who tagged out the sliding Soto. Wells struck out Nelson Cruz to end the inning, and the Nationals went scoreless.

As broadcasters say often seems to happen in baseball, a player who makes a great defensive play leads off the next inning. Hays, leading off the bottom of the first, started his historic cycle with an infield single up the middle. Second baseman Cesar Hernandez fielded the slow roller, but Hays beat his throw to first. Hays moved to second on Trey Mancini’s single and scored on Ryan Mountcastle’s one-out double to right. Wells walked a batter in the second and loaded the bases on a single and two walks in the third, but the Nationals could not push a runner across the plate in either inning. 

Corbin retired the side in order in the bottom of the second but ran into trouble in the third. Hays led off and blasted a home run over the left-field wall, dubbed “Walltimore,”2 since it was moved as much as 30 feet back from home plate and raised up five feet prior to the 2022 season. It was Hays’ 10th home run of the season. An out later, Anthony Santander launched his 13th home run over the wall in left-center to give the Orioles a 3-0 lead. Baltimore added two more baserunners when 2019 first overall draft pick Adley Rutschman – batting .306 in his previous 10 games after struggling for the first two weeks of his big-league debut – doubled and Nevin walked. But Corbin retired Robinson Chirinos to end the inning without allowing another run. 

In the bottom of the fourth, Hays settled into the batter’s box with two outs. He swung at Corbin’s first offering, sending the ball toward the right-field wall. It bounced off the scoreboard, over Soto’s outstretched glove. By the time the right fielder retrieved the ball and threw toward the cutoff man, Hays had reached third base with a stand-up triple, his third hit of the game and his first three-bagger of the season.3 Corbin stranded Hays at third, though, as Mancini struck out for the third out. Wells set down the Nationals in the top of the fifth, although he did walk Soto, who finished 2022 with 135 walks, leading the majors for the second season in a row.

Then came the rain. The game was delayed for 44 minutes, with Baltimore ahead, 3-0. Technically, it was already an official game, as Washington had batted five times, yet the umpires were hopeful play could continue. When play resumed, Erasmo Ramirez relieved Washington’s Corbin to start the bottom of the fifth, and the Orioles were retired three-up, three-down against the journeyman reliever. Nick Vespi replaced Wells on the mound for Baltimore. He walked Lane Thomas with one down, but Yadiel Hernandez grounded into an inning-ending double play. 

Steve Cishek was called on to pitch the bottom of the sixth for Washington. Nevin led off with a single, and after Chirinos struck out, Cishek walked Mateo. Chisek fanned pinch-hitter Rougned Odor, bringing up Hays for the fourth time in the game. According to the Baltimore Sun, “the rain picked up its intensity again”4 as Hays settled into the batter’s box. He “promptly lashed the last remaining item on his checklist into left-center field,”5 a line drive that measured 101.8 MPH (per Statcast) off the bat.6 His two-bagger brought both Nevin and Mateo across home plate and completed the cycle. Even the rain could not wash away his accomplishment. As the precipitation continued to fall, Hays was also “soaked in applause”7 for his performance. 

Play continued, as Mancini then pulled the ball deep down the left-field line for his seventh home run of the year. Baltimore’s third homer of the game built a 7-0 lead. When Santander followed with a single, Nationals manager Dave Martinez made another pitching change, bringing in Andres Machado, who faced one batter, getting Mountcastle to fly out to right. As the two teams prepared to swap positions, the umpires called for another rain delay. An hour later, after 10 P.M., it was apparent that the rain would not cease.  

The game was called after six complete innings and a total of 1 hour and 46 minutes of delay due to rain. Many of the 12,630 fans had remained at the ballpark.

Hays became the sixth player in Orioles franchise history to hit for the cycle.8 In addition, his feat marked the fourth time in 2022 a player had hit for the cycle in the majors.9

Most significantly, it was the only recorded cycle in major-league history in a game shortened to six innings. The only previous cycles in official games called before nine innings were by Tip O’Neill of the American Association’s St. Louis Browns (who later joined the NL and became the Cardinals) in 1887 and Oyster Burns of the NL’s Brooklyn Bridegrooms (who became the Dodgers) in 1890.10 Both were in eight-inning contests. This means that Hays’ cycle, the 338th in history, took place in the shortest game by innings played.

After the game, Hays told reporters that this was “my favorite big-league game so far,” adding, “Goosebumps hit me as I was touching second base after doubling in the sixth, and nothing else to do but just point up to the sky and thank God for the opportunity.”11

Orioles skipper Brandon Hyde praised Hays, suggesting he be selected for the coming All-Star Game by telling reporters, “I hope that people recognize it and start looking into the kind of year he’s having, because he’s putting together a great first half.”12 The four-hit night boosted Hays’ batting average to .287, and his .829 OPS led all Orioles regulars to this point.13

The Orioles improved to 31-39 and this victory started a four-game win streak. A 10-game streak followed in July. From June 22 to September 3, the Orioles won 41 of 63 games to reach a season-best 10 games over .500. They finished 2022 with 83 wins, their first winning season since 2016.14

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Bruce Slutsky and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Sources  

In addition to the sources mentioned in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com, MLB.com, Retrosheet.org, and SABR.org.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BAL/BAL202206220.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2022/B06220BAL2022.htm

Notes

1 Andy Kostka, “Rain Can’t Wash Away Hays’ Cycle,” Baltimore Sun, June 23, 2022: D2.

2 Zachery Silver, “Hays Gets MLB’s 3rd June Cycle: ‘Epic Game,’” MLB.com, June 23, 2022, https://www.mlb.com/news/austin-hays-hits-for-the-cycle. The change to the left-field wall was intended to create a playing field that was fair to both pitchers and hitters. In 2021 there were 277 homers hit at Camden Yards, compared with 176 homers hit away from Baltimore (numbers combine both Orioles and opponents). See Adam Wells, “Orioles Will Move Back LF Wall at Camden Yards to Avoid Being ‘Outlier’ for HRs,” BleacherReport.com, January 22, 2022, https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10023624-orioles-will-move-back-lf-wall-at-camden-yards-to-avoid-being-outlier-for-hrs.

3 His only other triple came on September 27, against the Boston Red Sox.

4 Kostka.

5 Kostka.

6 Silver.

7 Silver.

8 The other Orioles players to hit for the cycle were Brooks Robinson (July 15, 1960, against the Chicago White Sox); Cal Ripken Jr. (May 6, 1984, against the Texas Rangers); Aubrey Huff (June 29, 2007, against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim); Felix Pie (August 14, 2009, against the Angels); and Jonathan Villar (August 15, 2019, against the New York Yankees).

9 The first three batters to hit for the cycle in 2022 were Christian Yelich (Milwaukee Brewers, May 11, his third career cycle, all against the Cincinnati Reds); Eduardo Escobar (New York Mets, June 6, against the San Diego Padres); and Jared Walsh (Los Angeles Angels, June 11, against the Mets). Nine days after Hays’ accomplishment, the Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado hit for the cycle for the second time in his career (July 1, against the Philadelphia Phillies), bringing the total to five cycles in 2022.

10 “Brooklyn 20; Pittsburg 1,” Boston Globe, August 2, 1890: 5.

11 Silver, “Hays Gets MLB’s 3rd June Cycle: ‘Epic Game.’”

12 Silver.

13 Hays finished the season with a .250 average and .719 OPS in 145 games.

14 The Nationals won only 30 more games over the rest of the season and finished with a majors-worst 55-107 record.